18 Months

What are we up to at 18 months?

Weight - 23lb 10oz - 30%ile

Height - 32.25 in - 74%iles

(Head Circumference still in the 90th %iles!)

Anna-Kate's strength remains her verbal skills. She is repeating all kinds of words. I stopped counting a long time ago, because she is just so stinkin' verbal!

One of my new favorites is when she points to Will saying "Daddy," then points to me saying "Mommy," and then her excitement grows considerably when she points to herself and says, "AnnaKate!"

She remains very cautious. We have yet to buy a gate for the stairs. She doesn't like to try something new until she has seen someone do it in front of her. (uh, sorry AK, you got that from mommy!)

A personality is really starting to shine through. She laughs a lot, especially when she makes little jokes like the one above.

She sleeps with all three lovies at nap and bed time, so this is another common scene in our house.

This above look is one I see as often as I allow the TV to come on. Anna-Kate l.o.v.e.s Elmo!! She asks for Elmo as soon as we walk in the door. She asks for Elmo as we drive down the road. She asks for Elmo at dinner. She asks for Elmo, sometimes, as she wakes up. To help us not give in too often to a video, we have Elmo books and stickers. ;)

Meal times are interesting. She actually has a pretty large list of likes, but she likes to exercise her right to not eat whatever it is in the moment. Her favorites are cheese, beans (especially black and baked), crackers, pizza, and homemade sweet potato fries.

Anna-Kate loves showing off her coats and shoes, all girl!

I love hanging out with my little girl! I have allowed it to sink in recently that she is truly a little girl, instead of a baby. I am loving every minute (okay mommies, we know that means minutes minus the tantrums :) of watching her grow!

I'll Help Daddy!

I love when it is time to start decorating for Christmas!
and I especially love that my man considers it his job to get the tree up!

Anna-Kate was so helpful! or at least she was encouraging!

So Thankful

...and not just for the amazing food!
I am thankful for

Jesus

my husband

my daughter

my family (including my in-laws!)

mommy friends

old friends who still keep up

dark chocolate Reese's cups

my church

music

Mary-Knowles

warm, cuddly blankets

coke zero

Bible verses

Christmas decorations

Josh Groban cds

toddler hugs and laughs

Target

nap time

and so much more!

Let the Holidays Begin

With approximately 60,000 of our closest friends
and some of our family members

we enjoyed the Raleigh Christmas parade on Saturday. I am now officially ready for Thanksgiving (especially the amazing Thanksgiving food :) to kick off the holiday season!

Friday night

Friday evening Anna-Kate was in a great mood! and she was looking super cute! I had two splurges for this fall/winter season, the red shoes and this outfit! I love it! So, I decided to try to get a picture of her. Even with her great mood, I couldn't get her to grin while trying to take these pictures. Probably because it was so close to supper time.

But I did get this sweet picture of her waiting for her daddy!
Then I couldn't help but take the close up that shows off her pretty hair and how much it has grown.

Like I said, she was in a great mood! She ate well and laughed hard! (We had this, which we have all enjoyed. And, I feel like my pick toddler is eating her carrots!)

This is one of my favorite faces that AK has been making a lot these days.

After supper, Anna-Kate and Will had a talk about her future. This picture gives us a glimpse into that future.

She did seem happy about the decision!

Hungry

No comments on the dietary confession about to happen...
So, there was a night or two where Anna-Kate and I were coming home late. She was ready for supper. My option for her sweet demands (ahem) was a pack of peanut butter crackers.
I thought she was asking for a cracker for each hand. At a stop light I looked back and saw this! She was eating a triple decker!

This made me laugh out loud!

Ear Infections

are a strange thing... Some kids don't get them; some kids do. Some kids can't sleep through them. Some kids throw up or have tantrums. And apparently some kids run around barely dressed [on a 54 degree afternoon]!

Anna-Kate has had a rough week. After several throwing up episodes and a few tantrums, Anna-Kate finally pulled on her ear. Monday's visit to the doctor said she definitely had an ear infection. A day of barely eating and a fever invited a Friday doctor visit. An one-sided ear infection has now become a double ear infecion.

All kids and moms everywhere agree that ear infections are no fun! (Throwing up on her clothes while we were out on Sunday with no change of clothes available provided us with this amazing picture of Anna-Kate!)

Strolling

Anna-Kate has a new love.....strolling!
She loves pushing a stroller. She is also enjoying playing with the babydoll. She will bring the doll to me, holding her out for me to take, and say, "rock! rock!" I then have to rock the baby. She spends the most time with the stroller, though!

Pushing her baby's stroller, of course, leads to demanding to push her and Mary-Knowles's stroller.

Anna-Kate, would you like some help steering the stroller?

Most of the time, her toddler response is No! with an implied I do it!

But sometimes, I-do-it is allowed to turn into we-do-it.

In toddler world, liking to do something means you should be able to do it all the time. I give in when it makes sense; we have also had our share of tantrums over it not making sense.

I loved this moment! When Mary-Knowles turned around and realized that Anna-Kate was the one pushing the stroller, she laughed out loud! Both girls thought this was so cool!

Toddler Activities

I haven't blogged much lately about day-to-day with Anna-Kate and Mary-Knowles. I should probably start by saying toddlers are fun. Toddlers are hard work. Toddlers are not predictable. Toddlers like having your attention. Toddlers are wonderfully fun and cute and hard work! With that said, let's look at what me and my two favorite toddlers have been up to lately.

Mary-Kathryn gave us some notebooks. Allowing toddlers to "journal" encourages pre-literacy skills. When I have stickers the girls enjoy putting stickers in their books, and they love writing in them.

Let's also admit that if you turn your head while hanging out with toddlers, they turn the activity into something you didn't quite intend for it.

And, even something as ordinary as brushing teeth is an activity with toddlers.

Whatever they play with, they enjoy it most when they play it together.

While together, even the grocery store is more fun! (Okay, maybe I should admit that by the end of this shopping trip the girls had started antagonizing each other. One was pitiful in the cart and one was crying in my arms. That's the hardwork part!)

Only occasionally do I turn bath time into an activity for both girls. It is one of their f.a.v.o.r.i.t.e things to do! They splash and laugh and pour water on each other and laugh some more!
And, when you allow a toddler to sleep on the floor, nap time becomes an activity! The first nap time MK slept on the floor, she first pulled as much as she could reach onto her bed with her, then she slept in the middle of it!

Toddler hugs are one of the cutest activities! (And toddler hugs are what make the hard work worth it, especially when the hug is aimed at me.)

That's not a toddler hug!

That's a toddler tackle!

This Smile

makes me smile!

The [New] Object of My [Old] Obsession

Yes, this is a post just to admit I had to buy Anna-Kate a new pair of red shoes! She outgrew her first pair earlier than I thought she would. I know Anna-Kate was missing being able to wear her red shoes. Ahem, okay, her mom may have been missing the red shoes.

I love little girl shoes!! Does anyone else notice that these are a little sassier than the last?!

Our Duck

Family Weekend

For a couple that doesn't get excited about Halloween, we sure celebrated a lot this weekend! It was fun getting to see Anna-Kate dressed up several times over the weekend.

Saturday morning our community had a fall festival with costume parade. It wasn't huge, but it was fun! Anna-Kate's favorite part were the sprinkle-covered donut holes.
I think my favorite part [the whole weekend] was watching her waddle as she walked. She sways her hips a little bit and the costume is full in the back, and it really did look like a waddle.

Saturday afternoon we went to Will's parents' community Pig Pickin'!

They had a costume contest and a few games for the kids. The pirate, chicken, and duck were definitely my favorites there.

Sunday evening was the big celebration. Our church has a fall festival with pony rides, an inflatable slide, games for young kids and games for big kids. We went last year, but this year Anna-Kate actually enjoyed herself.

Anna-Kate watching the ponies before her ride with her friend Asher, the dalmation.

I am riding a pony!

Why did you take my pony away?!

A ride down the slide was perfect to cheer Anna-Kate up!

After this we went inside to see about the games. Anna-Kate tried a couple, but next year she'll get more out of it. What I wish I had a video of.....someone held out 4 pieces of candy for Anna-Kate. She reached out, scooped up all four pieces in one hand, and then walked away quickly so no one could take it back. It was so cute!